The Oswego women’s hockey team is currently 3-0-1 on the season so far.  They had tied in their last game against SUNY Potsdam last Saturday after coming off a win against the Adrian College Bulldogs on Oct. 29 and then defeating the Trine University Storm on Oct. 30.    

Lakers’ head coach Mark Digby is in his first season in the position after spending 2010 through 2019 as the assistant head coach. In his first season, Digby has been impressed with the team already.  

“Over the last three years, we have been trying to build a deeper roster than we have ever had before,” Digby said. “What we saw this past weekend, we had scoring from Morgan Shines, Kyleigh Grugin, Sophia Krykostas and Morgan Teachout.  So there were a lot of goals coming from different power play groups.  I think anytime you can get that it’s a little easier because teams can’t match up against your top lineup. I think that is what we should shoot for.”

During the season, Digby has rotated between sophomore goalies Bryn White and Joanna Hiebert. Hiebert had played against Adrian College and had only allowed one goal during the game while having 31 saves.  White had played the next game against Trine University, where she had 16 saves while only allowed one goal. The following game against Buffalo State last Saturday, she once again only allowed one goal and had six saves.  With her two performances in those match-us, her total for number of saves during the season sits at 22.  It will be interesting to see if Digby sticks with White, who had played well during her first two games of the season, or go with Hiebert again to give her another opportunity to match White’s results in her first two games. 

“Right now, we have to look at it that they are both first-year goaltenders,” Digby said. “We recruited them both here to play and until they both have enough opportunities, it’s going to be hard to determine who should be in more regularly. We plan until after Christmas time of rotating them both into the lineup and giving them both opportunities. We also want to maintain a little bit of consistency there and I think one of the hardest things as a first-year goalie is the unknown of which games am I playing in and what am I not doing. I think the more balance that we have there will keep that consistent rotation going.” 

In Hiebert’s first start against Adrian College on Oct. 29, she had received the NEWHL Goalie of the Week for her performance in that game.  She had done this against an Adrian College team who went 22-3-3 in the 2019-20 season.  That is an impressive feat for any goalie in their first game.  

“It felt pretty good,” Hiebert said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. We had worked together.  It was a great game all around. Everyone working together made it meaningful and just the recognition by the NEWHL made it special.” 

Hiebert is very happy to finally be able to play hockey after the COVID-19 pandemic had ended their 2019 season but also thought the pandemic had brought an opportunity to help her improve her game and get to know her teammates more.  

“Last year with the COVID-19 pandemic was weird,” Hiebert said.  “Being able to take that time and train along with getting to know my teammates and to get better, I think it had made the transition better.”

Hiebert has been impressed with Digby so far this season and credits him with giving them challenges every day to help them improve their game. 

“Digby challenges us every day in practice and everything,” Hiebert said.  “He keeps pushing us to our limits.  I appreciate the way he coaches and how he pushes us as players and as a team because he wants the best from us.”

Sophomore Megan Teachout has been one of the best players on the Oswego women’s hockey team since 2019.  In her first season on the team, she had won the NEWHL Rookie of the Week award twice along with being recognized as part of the NEWHL Second Team.  Her biggest award so far in her hockey career had been being named to the 2020 NEWHL Championship All-Tournament Team. Teachout has also led the team in scoring in her first two seasons on the team. This season already she had won the NEWHL Player of the Week against Adrian College. Teachout has been very proud of her accomplishments, but she says staying focused on helping the team is the most important goal for her.    

“It definitely gives me confidence, but I like to stay focused on winning as a team,” Teachout said. “I like having fun and definitely being in a good mood helps all of that. I think working as a team helps me to get to where I am.” 

Teachout had seen some good and some bad things from their last game against SUNY Potsdam last Saturday, which they tied against them at 4-4.   

“I think it was definitely a good game,” Teachout said. “We could have definitely been more focused and got after the loose pucks a lot more. I think it is still early in the season so we have a lot to work on and we can definitely work on and get better next time.” 

Teachout believes that getting after the loose pucks is a point of emphasis that they need to improve ongoing into next week and for the rest of the season especially when it comes to the championship part of their season.  

“I think that definitely getting after loose pucks does win games and creates more offensive opportunities for us,” Teachout said. “It definitely helps us win battles.”

Digby has been remarkably impressed with how Teachout has performed in her first two seasons on the team and said that Teachout does not let the awards phase her, rather she remains focused on how to get better and help her teammates.    

“I think one of the nice things about Meg is that she scores and gets a lot of accolades,” Digby said.  “She gets all the attention, but rarely does she let that go to her head or to her ego.  So, she is a good teammate and it’s always nice when you get somebody that is getting all of the accolades but at the same time she’s not letting it impact her behavior and her presence in the locker room.  It’s nice as a coach because you want to make sure that the people who are getting all the awards by continuing to not let things drift away from what had made them successful. I think that has been one of the biggest positives of the last couple of years with Meg.”  

On a final note, a member of their team made the Slovakian Olympic roster this week, freshman Simone Bednarik. Digby was very proud of Bednarik making the team and had a hunch that she would make the team going into this season.  

“I am pretty impressed,” Digby said. “We knew in the recruiting process of last year that this was likely to happen. She played very well for them last year in prequalification stuff.  That’s really when we were recruiting her when she was playing for them.  Now with the opportunity to go and compete at a chance at the Olympics, it’s special.  It will be exciting tomorrow when we get off the ice and practice and then when we get back here and then turn on the game to watch her play.”

The Oswego women’s hockey team has two games this weekend. Their first matchup will be against SUNY Cortland at the Alumni Arena in Cortland, N.Y. Then they will host Plattsburgh State at home on Saturday. 

Erin Blank | The Oswegonian